Rating: 
Summary: The next book, after the Fourth Procedure, is coming out.
Review: To those of you who have been interested in when my next book is coming out, I'm happy to say its publication date is February 28, 2000. The book, published by Dutton, is titled A SLOW BURNING. Like THE FOURTH PROCEDURE, it's a thriller--we hope--and has some medical stuff in it, but less than TFP. Here's a sketch: This brilliant medical scientist, Dr. Cush Walker, is close to creating a neurological breakthrough that will allow him to repair damaged brain cells (from stroke, Alzheimers, or even, in this case, a critical wound). But more than that, the nanotech procedure he's working on could alter the nature of our brains in a basic way, changing--for better or for worse--who we think we are. This street-smart NYPD detective, Nat Hennessy, is about to marry a beautiful woman, Camilla Bissonette, when something happens to put her into a coma. The only person who might be able to save her, if he can push his experimental techniques beyond the point he's developed them, is Dr. Cush Walker. Ordinarily he wouldn't dream of taking this kind of risk with a patient--some results, he points out, are worse than death--but having dated Camilla three years before, he is still in love with her and can't stand to see her die. So now we have these two men in love with the same woman, both of whom hate each other, both forced to cooperate with each other in order to try to save her--or, if their efforts go haywire, put her into a living nightmare. Oh, yeah, one other thing: they come to realize that just before Camilla was injured, she figured out a dark secret about one of them. They don't know which one it is--they each have a skeleton in the closet--but they know that if she is revived, one of them will be ruined. But they desperately want her revived despite that, right? Right. And did I mention that Dr. Cush Walker--Nobel candidate, extraordinary scientist, attractive, ambitious doctor--is a black man? If you buy books on Amazon.com and want to take a look at A SLOW BURNING, I see that they are now accepting pre-orders. If you prefer buying your books at a bookstore, I prowl those places, too, so look for me, pen in hand, near the stack of A SLOW BURNING. Thanks for asking when the next one is coming. Stan
Rating: 
Summary: fascinating twists and highly original, tops all around
Review: While the start is graphic and may throw some readers off, it is not gratuitous. This is a book that links its sub-plots and enthralls you with the result. Each clever twist draws you deeper into a story that mixes medicine, law, and politics in a highly original and entertaining manner. The writing is excellent, as is the character development (an area where mystery often falls short). Probably the best mystery/thriller I've read in 5-10 years (if one doesn't count Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency, which is not really the same type of book).
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